applying tamiya decals

I am in the process of building a 1:20 Lotus 107B. I think it qualifies as one of those. And did a D2 DTM merc a while ago, that surely qualifies!

My method follows - and as allways you'll have to see whether it works for you. Insert disclaimer and all!

For Tamiya decals I mostly tend to go very very hot water with a drop of dishwashing liquid. (Once again, TEST! I've had some very thin ones that did not like the warm water all that much!) 10-15 sec's in there, then onto something soft that will absorb some of the water whilst you add a drop or so of that same water onto the place where you want to apply the decal - helps with moving it around to get the perfect spot.

Then I slide it in place - most often I hold it over the model in the correct place and pull the backing paper from underneath it. Slide it around till it sits perfectly. I then apply microsol, the red bottle. (TEST!!! - but I've not had issues) If you're unfamiliar with it - don't get scared about the initial crumpling of the decal - part of the process, it smooths out great! Do not touch it in the crumpled stage, however! You will spoil your day. Leave it alone till dry. If there are any air bubbles, cut the decal with a very sharp modeling knife where and as needed and apply some more microsol to re-melt that spot.

Importantly, I keep it simple and I do it early. I do one decal, unless there's a bit of a jigsaw of decals, to try to avoid touching it after applying microsol. If there's a jigsaw, I do them together, then microsol all together. By doing it early I mean that I am doing this whilst busy with the 1st steps on the kit, such as building the engine. That way you don't get in a rush to try to finish it.

If you clearcoat, I advise you clearcoat between "layers" of decals. With the 107B I have a huge base colour decal scheme, to be followed at places with sponsor decals on top of them. Microsol will attach the bottom decal (again) as well, so if you inadvertendly moved the top decal whilst applying microsol, you may have a problem.

Very importantly. These decals are usually designed very well. The task at hand may seem near-impossible initially, but just relax and do it slowly. It is never as bad as it seems!

I've heard of some guys using hair driers to help with complex curves, I've never done it personally. Maybe somebody can help you with that technique as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I use microsol and a hair drier,

Just brush on some microsol let it sit, don't touch the decals once this stuff is on, when it dries you might have to brush on another coat, just keep doing this until the decal is down correctly and your done! Use the hair drier to help the decals if it's a really weird curve etc.

On this car everything that is red is a decal.

thanks for the replies guys

this is currently what i am working on. i've applied all the decals except for the 64 decal on the sides. if you can see it from the pic it gets kinda crazy done there. i just want to do it right because i don't want to ruin and lose the decal because the only way to replace them is to buy the kit altogether again. guess i could start by buying some microsol.

Solvaset is another decal setting solution. It's stronger than the Microsol/set solutions. It also takes the most nerve because it makes the decal look like it's shriveling up and it's all you can do to just leave it alone and let it work. It sucks the decal down tighter and works faster than anything else I've tried. great if you're the impatient type like I am. I've had one case where it faded the decal's colors on some yellow bands on the Fine Molds Porco Rosso seaplane.

 

you may have to cut the decal there if its not already 2 parts?

you can get replacement decals from tamiya also  instead of buying the whole kit again

JTRACING wrote:

you may have to cut the decal there if its not already 2 parts? you can get replacement decals from tamiya also  instead of buying the whole kit again

 

the decal comes in three parts. i just want to do it right the first time.

i've tried ordering decals and parts from tamiyaUSA before and they NEVER  have them. they tell you to call them back in like 8 months

For my 1/20 Tamiya Williams F11 I just used my normal decal technique(Warm Water,Microset ,Micosol followed by a coat of Future).No issues decals seemed fine. 

There's always someone isn't there - I do everything you guys say not to do and its worked well for me for years and years.

On most decals I do as everyone has said but on realy difficult ie mega compound curves, I apply Microsol (or Mr Softener for the stronger decals) to the area the decal is to be applied, place on the decal, let it sit for a minute of 2 then start applying gentle heat from a hair drier. When the softener just looks as though its dried I remove the heat (I have actually used the oven grill for this as well when I was away and had no hair drier!!) and with a clean paint brush apply a little more softener and start working the decal with the brush. More heat and more working and more softener as required. On some decals I'll use my finger tip to apply the pressure with a rocking motion and gently work the decal into the area its to conform to. This does require plenty of softener because the skin ridges are very effective in removing liquid!

are microset and microsol the same thing? because i went to the hobby shop and all the decal softeners they had were microset.

Two different things (Sol is stronger),I don't recommend using a hair  dryer(Asking for trouble on that one)!

I don't use heat, but like nicholma I do use a soft brush on the softened (with microsol) decal.  Maybe the decals would smooth out by themselves, but I guess I'm just not patient enough. 

Jerm757 wrote:

are microset and microsol the same thing? because i went to the hobby shop and all the decal softeners they had were microset.

The instructions on my bottle of Microsol say to apply Microset first to the surface upon which the decal is to be afixed, place the decal then apply the Microsol to the decal. 

I don't use the Microset at all, my bottle is years and years old and its instructions say to apply the decal brush over with Microset and leave to dry. 

man i went to three hobby shops in my area and they all don't have Microsol. one didn't even know what it was. just wondering where you guys got yours. prolly have to buy it online.

Mocrosol - I can get it locally of late, but used to only buy it online. Use it almost every decal, since it sorts out silvering as well. And even so, I'm still on my first bottle, even havin drowned some bigger decals in the stuff. Also, like Mark, I don't use Micro Set at all. But since you're in the US, you'll have a lot of local online shops to try - one of my favourites is Mac's, don't know if he sells this specifically, but allways worth a look! Just try to hide your credit card from yourself!